TV high school ensembles

Caption'My So-Called Life'

Mark Seliger / ABC

If words like "valedictorian" and "homecoming queen" send you into cold sweats, congratulations, you are completely normal. For ages, television shows have tried to capture the high school experience in all its glory and terror. From the loveable misfits on "Freaks and Geeks" to the enviable...

If words like "valedictorian" and "homecoming queen" send you into cold sweats, congratulations, you are completely normal. For ages, television shows have tried to capture the high school experience in all its glory and terror. From the loveable misfits on "Freaks and Geeks" to the enviable... (Mark Seliger / ABC)

Privilege + corruption = happy viewers. When Ryan Atwood, the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks, moved in with Seth Cohen's perfect family, it was obvious that trouble was a-brewing. During its four-season run, you could always count on "The O.C." for very pretty people, a chuckle or...

Privilege + corruption = happy viewers. When Ryan Atwood, the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks, moved in with Seth Cohen's perfect family, it was obvious that trouble was a-brewing. During its four-season run, you could always count on "The O.C." for very pretty people, a chuckle or... (Fox)

The first three years of the series, Buffy Summers and the Scoobies (i.e. best friends Willow, Xander, Cordelia and more) dealt with "high-school-as-hell" in a more literal sense than most television shows -- especially since the school was located on a hellmouth portal. Luckily for Sunnydale,...

The first three years of the series, Buffy Summers and the Scoobies (i.e. best friends Willow, Xander, Cordelia and more) dealt with "high-school-as-hell" in a more literal sense than most television shows -- especially since the school was located on a hellmouth portal. Luckily for Sunnydale,... (Getty Images)

Hearing the theme song to "90210" still fills many people with delight. During its 10-year run, loyal viewers overlooked the fact that the "high-schoolers" had receding hairlines. Twins who never really looked like twins, the rich girl, the jock and the James Dean-like loner guy seem like...

Hearing the theme song to "90210" still fills many people with delight. During its 10-year run, loyal viewers overlooked the fact that the "high-schoolers" had receding hairlines. Twins who never really looked like twins, the rich girl, the jock and the James Dean-like loner guy seem like... (Andrew Semel / Fox)

There's always an audience for nostalgia. Released in 2002, but set during the American Bandstand hysteria of the 1960s, "American Dreams" included appearances by a handful of Hollywood heavies, and more cardigans and pencil skirts than you could shake a stick at.

There's always an audience for nostalgia. Released in 2002, but set during the American Bandstand hysteria of the 1960s, "American Dreams" included appearances by a handful of Hollywood heavies, and more cardigans and pencil skirts than you could shake a stick at. (NBC)